Okunoin Pathway is a photograph by Inge Johnsson which was uploaded on December 7th, 2023.
Okunoin Pathway
Mount Kōya (高野山, Kōya-san) is a large temple settlement in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan to the south of Osaka. In the strictest sense, Mount... more
Title
Okunoin Pathway
Artist
Inge Johnsson
Medium
Photograph - Digital Capture, Watermark Not On Actual Artwork
Description
Mount Kōya (高野山, Kōya-san) is a large temple settlement in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan to the south of Osaka. In the strictest sense, Mount Kōya is the mountain name (sangō) of Kongōbu-ji Temple, the ecclesiastical headquarters of the Kōyasan sect of Shingon Buddhism.
First settled in 819 by the monk Kūkai, Mount Kōya is primarily known as the world headquarters of the Kōyasan Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. Located on an 800-meter-high plain amid eight peaks of the mountain, which was the reason this location was selected, in that the terrain is supposed to resemble a lotus plant, the original monastery has grown into the town of Kōya.
Koya features a university dedicated to religious studies and 120 sub-temples, many of which offer lodging to pilgrims. Mount Kōya is also a common starting point to the Shikoku Pilgrimage (四国遍路, Shikoku Henro) associated with Kūkai.
Okunoin (奥の院), the mausoleum of Kūkai, is surrounded by an immense graveyard (the largest in Japan).
Uploaded
December 7th, 2023
